Rose Neumiller Green envisions a food pantry in Wolf Point with a friendly grocery store atmosphere where people could come into a waiting room where they would be registered on a computer and then given a grocery list in which they would go around the shelves and put their own groceries into the cart. Green, who obtained the use of the former Boys and Girls Club building on the corner of Main Street and Fifth Avenue South from the Fort Peck Tribes during late 2014, has assembled a board of directors and volunteers. More volunteers and more work are needed. Doors are being widened to allow pallet jacks to pass from room to room and an elevator will eventually be installed. A battery-operated forklift, pallet mover, shelving, grocery carts and stainless steel tables for repackaging are also needed.A date for the food pantry to open has not been set.Green said she expects to feed between 600 and 1,000 families each month.Physical renovations are nearing completion in the building. Major projects are almost completed, including floors and walls. The painting, widening of doors, assembly of shelves, wiring and the installation of computers, commercial glass door freezers and refrigerators still need to be completed.Green recognized several businesses that have been generous with donations. They include: First Community Bank, $500;Town Pump, over $4,000; Cenex, $1,200; Basket of Hope, $6,500; Gysler Hardware, scissor lift for painting; Farmers Union Lumber, paint; Wills Office World, computer and printer/fax; Mr. Wire, electrical work and commercial stainless steel sink; and many volunteers for providing labor.Green said additional funding is currently sought from the Fort Peck Tribes, Wolf Point Community Organization, Shakopee Nation and other sources.The Food Pantry would be open five days each week and would serve all surrounding communities.With the closure of the last food pantry in Wolf Point, the nearest services are currently in Culbertson.The board of directors is complete and includes Green, Billi Brownlee, Roxanne Gourneau, Paul Gysler, Gary Johnson, Rhonda Mason, Larry Monson, John Plestina, Marlene Turner and Winona Runsabove Meyer.Contact Green at 650-5667 to volunteer or with any questions.

The Missouri River mainstem reservoir system has the full flood control zone capacity available for the 2015 runoff season because all of the previously stored flood waters have been evacuated, according to the U.S Army Corps of Engineers Missouri River Water Management Division.“The last remaining 2014 flood water was evacuated in early January when the combined storage in the reservoirs fell below 56.1 million acre feet, the base of the flood control zone,” said Jody Farhat, chief of the Missouri River Basin Water Management Division. “The entire flood control capacity of the mainstem reservoir system is ready to capture runoff in the spring, reducing flood risk while providing good support to the other authorized project purposes.” Based on the current soil moisture and mountain snowpack conditions, the 2015 forecast runoff in the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa, is 25.5 MAF, 101 percent of normal. Normal runoff is 25.2 MAF. January runoff into the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa, was 178 percent of normal. Runoff typically slows during winter months as snow accumulates and rivers freeze, reducing inflows into the reservoir system. However, warmer-than-normal temperatures during the last half of January melted plains snow and river ice, resulting in above normal runoff for the month. “Because of the warm temperatures, system storage climbed in late January, ending the month at 56.5 MAF, 0.4 MAF above the base of the annual flood control zone,” said Farhat. “Typically, this inflow would occur in early spring; it came a bit early this year but doesn’t impact the reservoir system’s ability to reduce flood risk.” As of Feb. 5, the mountain snowpack was 95 percent of normal in the reach above Fort Peck Dam and 101 percent of normal in the reach from Fort Peck to Garrison dams. Mountain snowpack will continue to accumulate during the next few months and normally peaks in mid-April.“Currently, the mountain snowpack and runoff forecast are near average, but there are more than two months remaining in the snowpack accumulation season,” said Farhat. “We will continue to monitor basin conditions through the winter and into spring and will fine tune the regulation of the reservoir system based on the most up-to-date information.”

Frontier Elementary School principal Jack O’Neill is resigning effective June 30 after holding the post since the beginning of the current school year.The school board accepted his resignation Monday, Feb. 9.Superintendent Christine Eggar cited health reasons for O’Neill’s resignation.She said an executive session that had been scheduled to address a personnel matter was canceled.O’Neill, 67, came to Frontier after a long career as an educator in Colorado. He is also a former deputy sheriff in Colorado and a Vietnam veteran.In other business, the board canceled $18,000 in warrants that haven’t been cashed since 1999 to relieve the taxpayer burden.The school board also hired a bus driver, janitor and assistant coach.

The Roosevelt County DUI Task Force is launching a membership drive in an effort to increase the membership in terms of both numbers and a diverse cross section of the county population.The task force plans and implements strategies and activities that help reduce alcohol-related crashes, many with injuries and fatalities. The task force is not an arm of law enforcement.Montana has historically had one of the highest alcohol fatality rates in the nation with annual averages of about 10 percent of crashes being alcohol or drug related. That accounts for nearly 50 percent of deaths on Montana’s roads.While law enforcement and other professionals are members of the Roosevelt County DUI Task Force, everyone is welcome. Views and concerns from the public are sought from people from all walks of life, including parents, daycare providers, business owners, representatives of the Wolf Point Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, insurance agents, educators, students, senior citizens and others are encouraged to participate. People who can communicate, problem solve, organize, analyze data, write, stuff envelopes, hang posters, distribute brochures, facilitate groups and volunteer in various ways are needed.Several meetings to organize a DUI task force were held between late 2013 and April 2014 when the county commissioners approved a resolution that formally established the task force. The group that had been meeting as a steering committee comprised of elected officials, law enforcement and county residents, approved by-laws during its first official meeting Wednesday, May 7.Macdonald chairs the task force. The other officers are: Wolf Point Police Chief Jeff Harada, vice chair; Mary Vine, who also serves as coordinator for the task force, secretary; and Kahlil Wehbe, treasurer.The DUI Task Force meets monthly at the Roosevelt County Health Department on Custer Street across from the courthouse in the community services conference room. The next scheduled meeting will be Wednesday, March 4, at 2 p.m. The public is welcome to attend the meetings.

The start of the public portion of the Wolf Point School Board meeting, Monday, Feb. 9, was delayed about two hours while the board heard five student disciplinary hearings and one personnel issue during a lengthy closed executive session.During the public session, three of five unnamed students were expelled from school for the remainder of the current school year. Three are eligible for readmittance hearings for the 2015-16 school year. One student was expelled for a full calendar year with a hearing required before that student could return to school. One student will be readmitted at the current time.The board decided in favor of the Wolf Point Educational Support Staff Association for the personnel hearing.In other business, the board approved a $5,651 expenditure to Great Western Park and Playground of Wellsville, Utah, for playground equipment for Southside Elementary School and $16,744 to Galley Inc., of Jupiter, Fla., to update the kitchen at Southside. Purchase order review by the board is required with purchases that exceed $5,000.In another matter, the trustees approved the resignations of superintendent Joe Paine, teacher Megan Helmer and computer lab paraprofessional Patricia Vine.The board also approved hiring teacher Daisha Douglas as after-school program substitute and Stan Moran Jr. as assistant high school track coach.The board also approved a resolution, authorizing the next trustee election with ballots accepted until Tuesday, May 5. Nomination petitions for board openings are available at the district office. Balloting will be by mail-in ballot.Six trustees must be elected. There are three-year terms in Districts 3 and 4, two-year terms in Districts 1 and 5, and one-year terms in District 2 and 6.Election judges will be Peny Delger, Pat Henry, Shelly Rodenberg and Pat Will.